Lost memories
by Sakuramar
Summary: Naruto decides to forget everything, and he´s found by a girl who knows nothing about him and helps him.But, what will happen when his friends, specially Sasuke find out about his disappearance?Will he return to be the same blond? SasuNaru, eventually.
1. Forget

Naruto was walking through the forest, lost and injured. He and the other Rookie 9, besides Team Guy, were 20, and all of them respected jounins, he and Sasuke were even ANBU captains. Oh, yes, the raven avenger was back, though right now, Sasuke was on the mission, given by the Hokage, of course, of killing his brother and Kisame, the last remains of the Akatsuki.

Well, the truth was that Naruto wasn´t respected by the villagers, unlike his friends. As they had done every single day of his life, he was punched, annoyed, and he remained as an outcast. Even when 20 years had passed and no harm had been done to the village, they couldn´t see beyond Kyubbi, and the glares, the harsh words and everything that they did to him, that were the cruelest things they could ever do to any other human, were growing in number and in an alarming way.

That was why in that dark and stormy night, where the moonlight had disappeared, thanks to the clouds, and a thick, heavy rain, confused his senses, Naruto couldn´t find the way home, and was bleeding and hurt. Kyubbi had done everything he could to help him, but since he had just returned from an S-class mission, their chakra was drained completely. He had wounds every where, not life threating, but the deepest ones were on his heart, and those ones; not even Kyubbi could heal.

He was hurt from the harsh words, the rejection of the villagers, the pain and suffering that he had to go through every day, the painful memories, the treason.

He wasn´t the stupid dobe everyone thought he was, but indeed a rather fragile person, with so many fears and pain that one could never imagine how he had survived. He had a mask, one made with so much detail and perfection, that nobody could see through it. And, it wasn´t only the way the villagers threated him, but also the longing of having one specific person by his side, and yet not being able to have him. But that was the last of his thoughts as he tried to go back to Konoha, until he couldn´t move anymore.

He collapsed into the ground, and laid there, unable to move anymore, more from the pain and strain, than from the wounds themselves. He said out loud, through nobody could answer:

"I guess this is the end. But perhaps, it was better like this. No more pain. No more memories to haunt me in the dark. No more trying without avail."

He coughed, but then, the Kyubbi´s voice resonated in his head:

"_Kit, do you want to die or to forget?"_

"_I don´t want to die, but dying is just the easiest way out. I just wished I didn´t remember this. Not even the good times. If I were just able to begin a new life, far from Konoha, far from everyone..."_ he answered.

"_Even the one you love?"_ Kyubbi asked.

"_Yes, even him. Because I know he´ll never return my feelings, and knowing that hurts."_ Naruto said, barely able to look around him. Kyubbi sighed and said:

"_I know how you feel, and it hurts me too, even if you can´t believe me. So, you really want to forget, and just to be able to begin again?"_

"_Yes, just that_." Naruto said.

"_I´ll make you forget, except the techniques you know. But all other memories, I can keep them locked, and can bring them back if you want me too. Do you really want me to do that?"_ Kyubbi asked, doubtful. Naruto could have smiled in that moment if it hadn´t been to keep awake, so he just nodded. Kyubbi said:

"_This time, your wishes, are orders, kit. I just don´t don´t want to see you cry anymore."_

"_Thanks, Kyu."_ Naruto said, before a bright light wrapped him and he knew no more.

* * *

Serai Hikari, a young former kunochi from the Land of Water, and therefore, from Kirigakure, that was 22, she lived in a small village in the Land of Fire, not to far from Konohagure, and that beautiful morning she walked through the damped forest in search for wood.

The reasons she had quit being a shinobi, were really personal. She was a simple and humble person, not very cheerful, but gentle and rather good in treating wounds. The people in the village, liked her, since she was the best medic they had and wouldn´t doubt in help anyone. Besides, she was good at teaching and taking care of kids, who liked her a lot. Nobody, had ever seen her angry because of anything, and it was extremely difficult to get into a discussion with her, since she was really passive.

She had white hair, despite her age, astonishing green eyes, and a tan skin. She wasn´t skinny, but she wasn´t chubby either. She wasn´t the most beautiful girl in town, but still had good looks, and was more or less tall. So, a rather normal woman, save for her eyes, that seemed to shine with an eternal light, even in the night.

The only thing the other woman from the village disagreed with, was that in the time that she had been living there, she had never had even a boyfriend, though some of the men liked her enough to ask her marriage, but she always refused.

She lived beyond the walls that protected the village in a medium size house, not too wealthy, not poor either. She could have maintained a family of three or even four, but she lived alone, her only company a black fox, who was rather friendly and would purr to anyone that scratched his belly and gave him something to eat, called Sun.

As Hikari made her way through the forest, picking fallen branches, some wild fruits and some healing herbs, something caught her eye. She turned, a bit nervous, and began to get near to the thing she saw. She came to view with the most handsome and beautiful man she had ever seen in her entire life, surprising her so much she let her basket fell to the ground.

He had bright, sun kissed hair, tan skin that reminded her of some kind of caramel, because of the color, tall, well built, without excessive muscles, but not skinny. She knew that any girl would love to marry him, but she wasn´t any girl. Yet, as she watched him better, she understood he was an jounin, from his vest and possibly an ANBU, from the markings in his shoulders, yet he had no forehead protector, so she didn´t know to which village he belonged to, and now every village had their own ANBU. But his clothes were stained with blood, and so did a part of his face and head, and one of his legs too. She said, covering her mouth:

"Oh, kami-sama. Who did this to you?"

She hurried to his side, and notices three whisker marks in his cheeks, and she also noted he was breathing. She sighed in relief, as his breathing was rather normal, and though he looked a bit pale, it didn´t seem to be something to worry about. She checked his wounds, and deciding that they were not life threating, she decided to leave, because his team should be somewhere near.

Yet, as she got up, a regret came over her and deciding against her best judgment, she picked him up and then she picked up her basket and the stuff she had before finding the man. He was surprisingly light, though it was partly because she was a strong woman, not leaving training even after she had quit being a shinobi.

She made her way back home, singing softly to herself, and soon found herself in her home. She left the things to eat in the kitchen and then, took the man to one of the bedrooms she had destined to the injured. She left him in a futon and then went for the medical kit. Sun came into the room, and noticing the new person, went near him and sniffed him. He was a ninja fox, so he said to his master:

"He´s rather healthy, and a ninja. Is not your costume to bring such people here."

"I couldn´t left him there, could I? Those wounds weren´t made by kunais or shuriken, so it wasn´t a ninja he was fighting against to, if he even fight. Nor are sword wounds, Sun." Hikari answered.

Sun nodded his head, and his master cam over to heal the man. She opened his vest and took off his t-shirt without blushing, thing that any other woman would have made if she had to take care of such a handsome man. She soon healed his wounds, without leaving any marks, and she continued with the rest of his body, and soon the man looked like if nothing had happened to him, though he was now in just his boxers. Sun said, kidding:

"You should bring the teenagers. They would get a nosebleed right now."

"Yeah, I know so. Well, stay here to see if he awakes, as I clean his clothes, but you know the rule..."

"No speaking. Yeah, I know so." Sun ended for her.

Hikari smiled to her fox companion and then left, to get his clothes clean. She didn´t found his forehead protector there, so she had no clue who he could be.

When she returned, he was still asleep, thing that worried her. Most of her patients would wake up almost immediately, so this was strange. She checked his body once more, but she found no poison or any other damage she hadn´t noticed the first time. Deciding that the best would leave him rest, since he surely was exhausted, she went to the village to buy him some clothes, since she had no clothes he could borrow, and also to by some food and to learn about the news. Nothing interesting, save the wedding of a couple she knew more or less well, she came home and cooked.

She checked one more time on her patient, and there were no signs of him waking up any time soon. She was really confused, but as she found nothing to worry about, she decided to wait. And, no ninjas could be felt near the village, thing that made her wonder if he had been alone or what.

When night came and he didn´t wake up, she decided to watch him through the night, just in case anything went wrong.

--------------------------

Finally, about midnight, he stirred and opened his eyes. Hikari went next to him, and saw his stunning blue eyes. She had already seen them, while checking him, but now that he was awake, they looked a lot more entrancing. He asked:

"Where am I?"

"In the village of Masanori, under my care. Serai Hikari, at your service." She answered gently. He looked surprised, and then, asked something that surprised greatly Hikari:

"And... who am I?"

--------

Naruto, though he didn´t know his name was Naruto, began to wake up. He had no memory of who he was, what he did, or where he was. The only thing that he remembered, were the ninja techniques he knew. Besides that, everything was blank, well, except the obvious stuff, like how to eat, what was a house, how to speak, etc. But about who he was, nothing, not even his name.

He opened his eyes and was greeted by a wooden ceiling, and white walls. He looked to his side, and saw a young woman, with bright green and worried eyes, white hair held in a ponytail and tan skin. He asked:

"Where am I?"

"At the village of Masanori, under my care. Serai Hikari, at your service." The woman, or better said, Hikari, answered, with a soft voice. He was kind of surprised, why would he need her care?, but then asked the question that seemed more important to him:

"And... who am I?"

------

Hikari was really surprised. She answered:

"If you don´t know, much less do I. I found you in the forest, and as you were injured, I took you here and healed you. But I don´t even know from which hidden village you come from, since you have no forehead protector, and I know you are a ninja because you had a chunnin vest and those marks on your shoulders mean you are an ANBU, but as every hidden village now has ANBU, and they are marked the same... I can´t know beyond that. You don´t even remember your name?"

"No, I don´t. I just remember the ninja techniques I learned." Naruto said. Hikari was surprised at hearing this, and said:

"That doesn´t help me either."

"Oh, sorry." Naruto said, lowering his head. Hikari smiled and said:

"Hey, don´t worry. It is not a big matter anyway. If you were dangerous, Sun would have told me immediately."

Naruto looked to his side and and saw a black fox, that was sleeping by a corner. He noted he had almost no clothes on, and blushed. Hikari noticed this, and giggled a bit and handing him the clothes, she said:

"Sorry. I had to take your old clothes, in order to heal you, and to clean them."

"Oh. Thanks. I mean, you don´t even know me and you are helping me." Naruto said. Hikari said:

"Oh, well, it´s not big deal. Don´t worry about it. I leave you so that you can change, and I believe you are hungry, so I´ll get you something to eat."

Naruto nodded and she went to the kitchen. When she came back, he was already dressed, and he gave him some food. She said:

"I´m not the best cook ever, but it isn´t bad."

"As I don´t have anything to compare it, don´t worry." He said, and began to eat.

He felt a lot better after that, and decided that he liked that food. Hikari took the dishes away and then came back to the room. She asked:

"So, what are you going to do now?"

"I have no past, no memories of who I am or where I come from. What am I supposed to do? I guess... I´ll wander and..."

Hikari thought for a moment and said:

"If you want to, you can stay here. We are only two people, better said, one person and a fox living here. So, yeah, you can stay."

"Re, really? Aren´t you bothered? I don´t want to be a burden." Naruto said, but he was really happy to hear this. Hikari said:

"Oh, no, you would never be a burden. I would love you to stay here, sometimes I really need a helper and a person to talk to. But, first we have to speak to the villagers, ok?"

"Yes, I understand." Naruto answered, but yawned. Hikari almost giggled again and said:

"Tomorrow will do that. So, you can sleep here, ok? I´m in the room next to this one, so if you need anything..."

"No, it´s ok. So, thank you, Hikari, and good-night." Naruto said. Hikari nodded, but said:

"No problem. Good-night... uhm.. can I call you Sora-kun? Your eyes remind me of the sky."

"Sora it is. Thank you." Naruto or Sora, said, before drifting back to sleep. Hikari smiled, and after turning the lights of, she went to sleep too.

A fox, who was lurking in "Sora´s" mind, thought:

"_I hope that you can live well here, kit. She´s kind enough for you. Go to sleep."_

* * *

**_So, what do you think? What will happen when Naruto´s friend find about his disappearance? Can I ask at least two reviews, please?_**


	2. Something´s off

"_Something is off here_." Neji thought, as he trained.

It was a beautiful morning in Konohagakure, the birds singing, the shinobi walking and resolving their affairs, a few couples making out, kids playing. Nothing that seemed to be out of the ordinary, but it was still bugging him. Finally, he understood what was wrong. Naruto´s huge chakra couldn´t be sensed in all the village. Usually, it wouldn't have startled him but it did now because he was Naruto´s squad and he KNEW that he had no missions to go to. So, where was he? What had happened?

He hadn´t seen his captain since the afternoon the day before, and everything seemed fine in that moment. There was something he didn´t like at all about this and he had a bad feeling. For the last months, since the blond had been promoted to ANBU, he seemed to be a bit down. And, specially the days he and the Uchiha were separated.

He wasn´t the only one that seemed to be a bit out of character. Also Uchiha Sasuke seemed to be daydreaming more often than normal, and when Tsunade told him that his squad and him were assigned to kill Uchiha Itachi, he hadn´t shown even a bit of surprise, or anger or any of the emotions he would show before when his brother was mentioned. He just accepted the mission like any other. And, though he was still the same arrogant bastard, (as Naruto defined him), he seemed to be even more closed when Naruto wasn´t in the village.

According to all their friends, they had feelings for each other, but they were too shy to express them. Neji could see that as well, but knew that if anyone ever mentioned this to any of them, they would kill that person, since they were so proud. Well, Naruto maybe wouldn´t have killed anyone, but he would have been really pissed. And Sasuke, the only one that could held him down when angry, was Naruto himself.

Either way, right now he was worried for his captain, so after finishing his training, he went to the Hokage´s tower, where he could hear Tsunade screaming to someone. He knocked the door, and Tsunade said:

"Come in."

He entered the room and said:

"Good morning, Hokage-sama."

"Neji? What brings you here? You just returned from your mission with your squad, right?" Tsunade said, looking at him.

"Indeed. But, I wanted to ask; have you assigned Naruto another mission?"

"Naruto? No, not at all. That brat needs some rest, after all. Why do you ask?" Tsunade said, confused. Neji´s worry grew a lot after hearing that, but he calmly said:

"Because I don´t sense either Naruto or Kyubbi´s chakra. Not in the village or the training grounds."

"What? This sounds strange. Not that you mention it... I haven´t heard the villagers said anything against him today... This worries me. Could you search for him? All over the village, please." Tsunade said, really worried about her favorite brat.

Neji nodded and went out, in search of his friend and captain.

Tsunade checked the bingo and her gambling stuff, and to her surprise and discomfort, she had won. That worried her even more, since everytime she won in something like that, bad things had or were to happen.

-------------------------------------------

The night came and Neji was rather desperate. Not a sign of the loud blond, nothing. In his house, he had either cleaned that morning or he hadn´t been home at all, since the bed was made. But there weren't any signs of dinner or breakfast.

And in the village, nobody had seen him, not even at Ichiraku´s, or any of the usual places he normaly would be. He had checked every place twice, with his Byakugan, and nothing. Lastly he decided to check th Hokage´s mountain again, for the third time that day. As he went deeper this time, he caught a glimpse of a forehead protector. He hurried and when he found it, he was really, really surprised. It was a protector with a black ribbon. Only Naruto´s protector was like that.

* * *

Sasuke´s squad had finished the mission succesfully. Now, the head of the missing nin Itachi was ready to be taken to Konoha, and so was Kisame´s head.

Sasuke wanted to go back to Konoha as fast as they could, since he really needed to see the blond kitsune again. He was always relieved of seeing his smile, hearing his laughter, that he couldn´t think of spending more time away from him. Though he would try to never show it, because he would be so ashamed, and, he was a prideful Uchiha, so no showing emotions.

Yet, as much as he wanted to go back in that instant and tease the dobe a bit, he and his squad were tired and needed a rest. Beating the missing nins hadn´t been an easy job, not a all, even if the best ANBU were there. After getting the needed rest, they headed back to Konoha. It would take them at least three days to get back. He looked at the sky and saw that there were no clouds, unlike the night before, when there had been a storm. The Sun was shining, and that reminded him of the kitsune, and his beautiful looks. There was nothing he wanted more than to hold him in his arms and yet... he was scared of rejection. But, this time, he decided that he would stop being a scardy-cat and to get Naruto, even if he had to turn the world upside down. Night came, with another storm and the next day, they were already in the Land of Fire. One more day, and he would see his beloved, or that was what he thought.

* * *

The next morning, Hikari woke up with the sound of the birds. She remembered last nights events, and after dressing, she went to the room Sora was in. She found him sleep, and gently, she moved him and said:

"Sora-kun, it´s time to wake up."

"Uhm? Hikari-chan. Hai, hai, just wait for me to dress." Naruto said. Hikari nodded, and said:

"I´ll make breakfast. Then we´ll go to the village´s lord, ok?"

"Sure."

Hikari made breakfast and Sora was ready in no time. They ate, and Hikari did most of the talking, about the village, what was her job, the traditions in the village and so on. Sora learned quickly and was really excited about everything. He´s eyes reflected innocence, and he was really funny and Hikari liked him a lot. It had been a long time since she had chatted like this with anyone, so after breakfast, they went to the village.

Everything caught Sora´s attention, and he drew a lot of attention to himself from the villager´s girls. They were walking around the place for easily 2 hours, in which besides keeping an eye on him, Hikari had to explain to the woman of the village how she had founded him. Specially the old ones, that saw with bad eyes a woman and an man living together and not being family or a married couple. But besides that detail, the villagers kind of liked the blond, who was a loud and funny.

Hikari laughed a lot with him, because he asked about everything, and did funny things. She was really happy to find someone like him, because there was no malice in his voice, nor sadness or any of those bad feelings.

Finally, they went to the lords "mansion", though in strict terms it couldn´t be called mansion. Yes, it was the biggest house in town and the most beautiful one, but in Konoha, it would have been a more or less expensive house.

The lord, was loved by his people, because of his sense of justice and kindness. He wasn´t the best leader you could ever find, but took good care of the people and their needs, so the village was really happy, and kind of wealthy, for such a simple village.

The only thing that the villagers regret, was the lack of children. The babies would die very easily, and the young people, often tired of working the land, went to Konoha or other hidden villages to become shinobi. So, there weren´t a lot of kids, and the young couples that lived there had a lot of pressure on having children, and that´s why the villagers disliked the fact of Hikari living alone, specially in this time of her life, that was when she was perfect for having healthy kids. But she still refused, and most of the time, they just forget about it. Though when they saw the loud Sora walking by her side, many were already making plans on getting the young couple together.

The lord himself, who was already in his late forties, had three kids between the age of 7 and 13, and one of 18, who was already married. He received quite happily Hikaru and Sora, and once they sat in a comfortable room, he asked:

"What can I do for you, my children?"

"Kenichi-san, I would ask you permission for Sora to stay here in the village as my assistant..." She answered, and they told him the story. Kenichi was lost in thought for a few moments, and then said:

"I´ll gladly let him stay given the circumstances, but as long as you take full responsability of his actions, Hikari-san; and I think the villagers would appreciate it even more if you become one of the guardians of the town. Nothing really serious, but just about the thieves and such. I would be extremely relieved to have two shinobis to take care of the village."

"Of course, Kenichi-sama. I´ll do everything I can." Sora said, bowing. Hikari said:

"Thank you, Kenichi-san."

"It´s ok. Now, you two will stay together, right? I guess you´ll be Hikari-san´s apprentice, right? That is really good. I´m happy for you, for the fact that you found each other. I´m sure you´ll be happy together." Kenichi said, though he left the two shinobi a bit dumbfounded. Hikari asked:

"I beg your pardon, but, what do you mean with that, Kenichi-san?"

"You´ll see soon. After all, soon it will be spring, and there´s nothing like that season for love to bloom." Kenichi said. Hikari almost snorted at that, but said:

"You are such a good joker, Kenichi-san. Thank you again, we´ll be leaving."

"Thank you, Kenichi-sama." Sora said, bowing once again and leaving the two of them together.

Once they were out, Sora asked:

"Hikari-chan? Why you said that love blossoming was a joke? I don´t see it that way."

"Sora-kun, you´ll learn about that later... but, I´ll tell you one thing. I´m not against love, but that´s something I once have, lost it and I don´t have it anymore. Come on, you´ll need more clothes, and I have to buy some food." Hikari answered, her eyes slightly showing signs of crying, but she held the tears down.

Sora noticed this, and suddenly, acting on impulse, he hugged her from behind and said:

"Don´t be sad, Hikari-chan."

"So... So...Sora!" The woman choke out, and jumped away from the sudden contact.

She turned, and looked a bit pale, and a tear suddenly came out from her eye. Sora, said, bit taken back:

"I´m... I´m... sorry, I didn´t mean to startle you! Sorry, sor..."

"Shh, it´s ok, Sora-kun. It just... took me by surprise, ok? Don´t worry, you can hug me or touch me whenever you feel like it, ok?" Hikari said, the color returning to her face and she was smiling to Sora, and took his hand for a moment just to reassure him that it was ok.

His face immediately lightened and he smiled too. Then, they went to buy the things they needed. After all, cooking and cleaning and everything for two people wasn´t the same as if it was only one.

* * *

_**So what do you think? Is it going good? Any ideas of what might happen? Can I ask for another two reviews?  
**_


	3. Truth

When the Hikari and Sora got back home, she said:

"As you´ll be staying with me, your room will be the next one to mine, ok? And, well, you heard what Kenichi-sama said, so you´ll be protecting the village along with me, ok?"

"Yeah, sure. I´m sure it will be nice." Sora said, smiling. Hikari smiled back, and said:

"Yeah. Well, you go to arrange your room and stuff, and I´ll cook, ok? Then I´ll show you the rest of the house and that stuff."

Sora nodded and went to his new room. It was really simple, with a bed, a more or less big window, a drawer, a closet and a table. The walls were soft blue color and the wooden floor was the same as the rest of the house. He liked that room, somehow it looked like if it had been designed for a young boy, a child, and in that moment, he felt like one; discovering the world.But then it made him wonder, if Hikari had been the one that built this house, why would she design such a room? Did it meant that there once was a boy that could have lived here? He wanted to know the answer to this questions, and also why Hikari had said that love wasn´t something she had. Yet, it sounded a like a really private matter, and he didn´t want to sneak upon the others secrets, specially not the one that treated him so kindly.

He went to the dinning room, and found that Hikari had already made dinner, so he set up the table, in silence. Hikari was the one that broke it, saying:

"Sit. The food is ready."

They sat and began eating, and Hikari spoke again:

"As you already know, I´m a ninja or better said, a former kunochi. So, Sun is my fellow, and he can speak. Normally I don´t allow him to speak to strangers, but as you are no longer an stranger, he´ll speak to you, and if you want to tell me something but I´m not near or something like that, you can tell him to tell me."

"Ohh... wow. Ok. Hey, who built this house? I like it a lot." Naruto asked, not finding another way to aproach the subject. Hikari answered:

"Well, according to the villagers, a rather big family lived once here, so that´s why it has so many rooms. But, one day, on a ninja attack, they were killed, all of them. Not even the kids´ lives were spared, and the house was abandoned. When I got here, about a year an a half after the attack, they gave it to me, since no one else wanted it. And, with so many rooms, it´s easy to have an infirmary, so that´s why I live here."

"So... you aren´t from this village?" Naruto asked, amused.

"No. I was born in the Land of Water, in a village not far from Kirigakure. Then, I went there to become a ninja, and when I decided I had had enough, I asked for permission and left. After traveling, I ended up here, and decided I liked it, so I stayed." Hikari answered. Naruto nodded, and then asked:

"And your family? Did you left them?"

Hikari let her chopsticks fall, and lowering her face, answered, sadly:

"No. A long time ago... they were murdered."

"Oh... sorry , I´m so sorry. I didn´t mean to..." Naruto said, trying to apologize. Hikari took his hand from the other side of the small table and said, smiling at him:

"It´s ok, Sora-kun. It was natural that you asked. Don´t worry. After all, if we are to live and work together, we have to tell each other things, right? You can ask whatever you want and I´ll answer, ok?"

"Sure. Ok." Naruto said, sighing in relief, and then asked:

"So, are you going to teach me how to cure? I bet I can help you with the injured."

Hikari released his hand and returned to eat, and answered:

"Yeah, if you want to. I bet that tomorrow we will have some injured coming here, since there´s a construction going on and they always get hurt, somehow. I wished they didn´t, sometimes the injuries are really bad."

"Ahhh, ok. I can´t wait." Naruto said, grinning madly, and laughed. Hikari laughed with him, and then, after cleaning, they went to sleep.

-----------------------------------------------

Yet, that night there was another electric storm. Hikari woke up, scared. How she hated those storms, it reminded her of... better not to think about that in that moment. Another thunder came and she jumped, griping the blankets deadly. She was really scared in that moment. She didn´t want to remember that night, but she knew it wouldn´t be long before the memories took over her. When another lightning hit the earth, she screamed. She covered her ears and tried to calm herself. She muttered:

"It´s just an electric storm, just that, nobody is coming through that door, relax."

Sun came in quickly and asked:

"Are you ok, master?"

She shook her head, and the fox was about to jump next to her and try to comfort her when a figure appeared in the door. Hikari screamed again, but when the lighting showed who the figure was, she relaxed a bit. It was Sora. He got closer to her and asked:

"Hikari-chan? Are you ok?"

"She´s scared of electric storms. Too many bad memories are linked to them." Sun explained. Naruto got closer to her, and she was shaking. He asked:

"Hikari-chan?"

"So..Sora-kun. Sorry if I wake you up." She said, looking at him. Sora said:

"It doesn´t matter."

He wanted to comfort her, so he did the first thing he thought it would relax her; he hugged her. Unlike the time he had done it in the town, she didn´t stiffen, but clenched to his t-shirt. He rooked her back to sleep, and when the storm died out, she fell asleep again. He left her there, making a mental note of her fright for electric storms.

* * *

Neji fainted when he took the forehead protector. He just couldn´t believe it.

When he woke up again, the Sun was rising and he was completely wet. He knew he would catch a cold, but he couldn´t care less in that moment. He looked back at the protector he had on his hand, and his face was even more pale than normal. He stood up and decided to go to the Hokage immediately. In less than five minutes, he was in front of the door and came in, not waiting for an invitation. Tsunade looked at him really surprised, and so did the ANBU squad that was there, though all of them had their masks on, and the captain was one with a wolf mask. Neji recognized him as Sasuke, but couldn´t care less and said:

"Hokage-sama, the only thing I found is this."

He left the protector on the desk, and Tsunade was really surprised, a said:

"What do you mean by this? Where is Naruto?"

"I don´t know. I went to search for him as you asked me too, but didn´t find him. Apparently he´s been missing since the day before yesterday, since there was no trace in his house of him sleeping there; and a bit beyond the Hokage´s mountain, his forehead protector laid in the ground."

Tsunade couldn´t speak, but suddenly, Sasuke, took Neji´s shoulders and asked:

"Are you sure? Wasn´t there any trace of where he could be? What happened while I was gone?"

"SASUKE, calm down. Even I don´t understand what´s going on here." Tsunade said, and after a little pause, she continued:

"Yesterday´s morning Neji came to me, saying that he couldn´t feel Naruto´s chakra anywhere in the village or training grounds; so I asked him to search for him. Naruto had just gotten here after an S-class mission, so he couldn´t be far. But, apparently, he´s nowhere near the village, and that he left his forehead protector... it´s something that worries me greatly."

"But, what could have happened to him? Squad, you´re dismissed." Sasuke said, and the other ANBU left. Tsunade sighed and shouted:

"Shizune!!!"

"Hokage-sama! What is it?" The black haired kunochi asked, appearing in the door. Tsunade answered:

"Get me both Inuzuka Kiba and Hatake Kakashi. NOW."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" Shizune said, left immediately. Neji said:

"I have to go back to my house, but if ANYTHING comes out, please let me know."

Tsunade nodded, and when he left, she asked:

"Sasuke-san, why don´t you rest as well?"

The only answer was the deadly Uchiha glare, and she took that as a no. It wasn´t long before both the Copy Ninja and Kiba were there, with Akamaru too. Tsunade explained the situation rather quickly and giving them the forehead protector, she said:

"I want you to find a trace of him, and then you´ll come back if you don´t find him. Understood?"

Both jounin nodded, and disappeared rather quickly, and Sasuke said:

"I´ll try to find him, too."

"Uchiha... don´t complicate things more. Just, try to be patient. They are the best at following a trace. Rest and then I promise you that as soon as they tell me where Naruto could be, you´ll be the one to go after him."

"You better keep that promise, Hokage-sama." Sasuke said, coldly and left the room.

Tsunade looked at him with her mouth open.

"_Does he thinks he can order ME, the HOKAGE, around? Geez... talking about possessive people. I know he loves my brat, but... geeez."_ She thought, and then, she decided to go back to do her work.

----------------------------------

In the late afternoon, both Kakashi and Kiba reappeared at the Hokage´s office, and Kakashi explained: 

"Hokage-sama. We can´t find any trace of him. Since it has rained the two nights after his disappearance, there´s no smell to track down. We can´t know where he could be."

"What? Nothing at all?" Tsunade asked, bewildered.

"No, nothing. There are not even any tracks left because of the storms." Kiba said, and Akamaru whined. Tsunade turned around and said:

"Well, I guess there isn´t much we can do. Anyway, go to Sasuke, and Neji. You four are in charge to search all around the village. He can´t be far from here. Though I don´t know why would he left the village... is not in his character."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Both shinobi answered, and left to find the last Uchiha and the Hyuga genius.

-----------------------------------------

As soon as they were in front of the house of Sasuke, he opened and asked:

"Did you find him?"

"No. The Hokage ordered us to search all around the village, since he can´t be far from here." Kiba said. Sasuke nodded and went out with them, and the three of them, went to the Hyuga compound. Neji came out immediately, and as they made their way to the village gates, he said:

"I feel that there´s something wrong in here. He would never leave, would he? I mean, he wants to be Hokage, he has his friends here, everything. There´s no reason for him to leave. But then again... the way he´s been acting this days... I´m not sure."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked. Kiba answered:

"I think I know what you mean, Neji. He´s been a bit down, the last months. But still, I don´t think that he would leave, is not in his personality to do so. He never... runs away."

"That´s true. He isn´t the kind of guy to do that. And, if he had done so, he would have left a message or something. He just... disappeared. Like if he had just vanished into thin air." Neji said, really worried.

Though Sasuke didn´t say anything, he agreed with them. Naruto would always face whatever problem he had. And, he loved the village way too much, and he wanted to become a Hokage. Then, why did he disappear? The Akatsuki were no longer around, so they were not an option. Orochimaru, he was more than dead, for about 5 years, now. What had happened? He needed to know that Naruto was safe, and whenever he could see his golden hair, to see his blue eyes, and to call him "dobe", that would be when he would be calm again. Until then, he wouldn´t rest peacefully.

They parted ways at the gates, and each one of them took a different direction. North, Sasuke, South, Kakashi, East, Kiba, West, Neji.

----------------------------------

After a day and a night of searching, they went back to the village, without any new of the kitsune. It really seemed like if he had vanished into thin air. Sasuke was furious with himself for not being able to find him, Kiba was really dumbfounded, Neji was extremely worried and Kakashi was simply and plain confused about it.

When they came into the Hokage´s office, they found Tsunade talking with a young girl, who was holding a hat between her hands, and looked nervous. Tsunade, seeing them, said:

"Don´t worry, she just has to tell me something and then we´ll talk. Go on, Maiko."

"Oh, well, uh... Hokage-sama, I just want to ask you one thing before telling you what I know." The little girl said. Tsunade nodded and Maiko, continued, sounding scared:

"Well, I would like you to keep it a secret that I told you this. Mom would be very angry with me, and also the villagers. So, please, keep it as a secret! Please!"

"Don´t worry, nobody will know that you told me this. I promise." Tsunade said, trying to calm the little girl. Maiko, after breathing, said:

"Well, you know Naruto-nichan, right?"

"Yes." Tsunade said, now beginning to worry, and so did the other shinobi. Maiko continued:

"Well, mom and dad hate him, and so does most of the other villagers, but I don´t know why. None of the children know the reason, and personally, I really like Naruto-nichan, he is, well, was, very gentle with us. But, about 6 days ago, several villagers went out and in search of Naruto-nichan. I don´t really know what they did, but they took him out of the village. I followed them, and they were, well, punching him, and yelling and doing bad stuff. Yet, Naruto-nichan didn´t fought back, I dunno why. It went on for almost all the night, so when they stopped, we were really far from the village, really far. I can´t recall in which direction or where exactly. The night made it hard to see and they turned in many directions."

"How can´t you remember? Didn´t you came back with them?" Tsunade asked, trying not to sound angry. Maiko continued:

"No. Well, you see, Hokage-sama, when we were really far and Naruto-nichan almost couldn´t move because of the injuries, he saw me. He was surprised, but also angry, I think, and that´s the only moment he punched one of the villagers, to scare them. They ran away, screaming something about a demon or something like that, and I was left behind. Yet, Naruto smiled at me and then he did a jutsu and a big frog appeared out of nowhere. He said something to the frog, and it came to me and ate me. I was really scared, but after a while, the frog threw up and left me at the gates of the village, near dawn. So I didn´t see the way back, Hokage-sama."

Everyone was in silence for a few minutes, trying to understand the information. Tsunade asked:

"What´s the last thing you recall from Naruto?"

"Well, he was really injured, and couldn´t walk well. He was bleeding from almost everywhere, Hokage-sama! And... well, I thought he would return, and he would be ok, like all the other times, but he didn´t come back! And then I heard a villager said that he should be dead! I don´t want him to die, Hokage-sama!! That´s why I came. But, I didn´t come earlier because I was scared. Mom and dad would be very angry with me, Hokage-sama! I don´t want that!!" Maiko said, almost crying. Kiba, being the one with the softest heart, got closer to her and hugged her and said:

"Don´t worry. Everything will be alright, I´m sure. Naruto is too alive to die. Don´t worry, nobody will harm you."

Yet, Neji, asked:

"You said "like all the other times". Has this happened more than once? Do you know for how long this has been going on?"

"I´m sorry, sir, but I don´t really know for how long. Well, I can say that since I have memory, sir. But, in the last months this has increased a lot, sir. I´m sorry." Maiko answered.

"I see... well, I´m glad you came to tell us, Maiko. You were very brave. But, do you think you could tell us which villagers did this?" Tsunade asked. Maiko nodded, though still scared and added:

"I could recognize them, Hokage-sama. But if you want to do something to them, well, they were about thirty or maybe more."

"Could you do it in this moment? Or you would rather do it another day?" Tsunade asked, as sweet as possible. Maiko answered:

"I can do it today, Hokage-sama."

"Well, Kakashi, would you go with her? And, take note of who did this?" Tsunade asked, looking at the silver haired man. Kakashi nodded and smiling at Maiko said:

"Come with me. Nobody will harm you if you are with me."

He gave her his hand and she, after bowing to Sasuke, Neji, Kiba and Tsunade, went out with Kakashi. Once they heard they were rather far from them, the a strange sound of birds was heard all over the room and suddenly the wall was broken by a powerful and big Chidori. Sasuke was more than furious, and Akamaru, Kiba, Neji and Tsunade herself, jumped back, away from him. His Sharingan was activated and looked more than frightening. He said, with hatred in his voice:

"Once you found who are guilty, and they tell you what you did to Naruto, give them to me and I´ll punish them. Then, I´ll go to find Naruto, you like it or not. Understand?"

Tsunade only nodded. Everyone knew that when Sasuke asked for something with that voice, you better give it to him, unless you wanted to be killed by a Chidori or been eaten by Manda. Besides, Tsunade would have done that, even if he didn´t ask for it, because she knew that Sasuke would be the best one at punishing people, and, oh, how she wanted to kill the villagers that dared to harm Naruto.

He had be alive, if not, Sasuke would make sure that they suffered what they did to him, duplicated. He wouldn´t wait long for his revenge.

------------------------------------

In less than a week, all the villagers Maiko had helped to discover, were found guilty of hurting, insulting a Konoha shinobi and "taking justice" by their own hand. Ino and her squad were the ones in charge of investigating this kind of things, so all the guilty ones confessed they had done, and where. But, as in that week it kept on raining, there was no way of finding Naruto´s trace, so the searching party had been useless. But everyone thought he wasn´t dead, because they didn´t find any corpse.

For the villager´s punishment, Sasuke had a full day to torture the villagers and as cherry of the cake, they were fed to Manda, who was more than happy with that offering. Sasuke found his hatred satisfied, but was still sad because he couldn´t find his blond kitsune. Yet, he made a promise to himself. He would find him, and take him back, even if it was the last thing he ever did. And, no matter what, Naruto would be his.

* * *

**_Did you liked it? And, as a warning, there´ll be several time skips, but short ones. I hope this chapter was good enough. Can I ask for at least 3 reviews? Please? _**


	4. Love, lust

A month had passed since Naruto had been found in that fateful morning by Hikari, and all the villagers were really happy to have someone like him. Though he was a young man, his happiness, innocence and joy were the ones of a kid, so he made the life of the village even more enjoyable. The young women and girls that weren´t married, all had a very BIG crush on him, save for the very girl that knew him the most, Hikari. He was handsome, cute, funny, intelligent and really nice to everyone, so he made a lot of friends in no time. Besides, he protected the village as well as Hikari so everything seemed to be perfect.

Yet, sometimes he wondered about his past. Where was he born, who were his parents, if he had had friends, and what had happened to him. But he didn´t like to dwell in the past. He loved the present and that was all that mattered to him. He really liked Hikari, since she was always gentle and nice, and since she had met him, she was more cheerful. But, there was something nagging him. Her family. Yet, he didn´t dare to ask.

One hot spring day, they were resting outside the village, under some trees. They were in silence, just enjoying the moment, and sitting side by side, with their shoulders touching. Hikari had noticed that something was bothering her dear Sora, so she asked:

"Sora? Is there something you would like to tell me or ask me?"

"Uhm? Well, yeah, there´s something, but... if you don´t want to tell me, it´s fine."

"Shoot."

"Well, what happened to your family?" Naruto asked, and she shifted, a bit uncomfortable, and answered:

"A dark subject for such a nice day. But, as I once said, if you ask, I´ll answer. Well, it´s a long story, actually. The story of my life, indeed. I have never tell anyone about this, so I ask you to keep it as a secret. And, I´m warning you, is a rather bad story."

"I won´t tell a soul." Naruto said, and moved a little to be able to see her face, as she began to talk:

"My family was a ninja clan, in the Land of Water, we weren´t the most powerful shinobi, but the clan´s techniques were to use all kinds of canine as our fellowships. You know, dogs, wolves, foxes, etc. Like the Inuzuka Clan in Konoha, but we used all kind of canines, not just dogs. Anyway, that´s not important. The point is that we were the protectors of our village, just the way you and me are now. It wasn´t as easy, though, because in our village most of the weapons were produced, so, many thieves and ninjas attacked the village to get those weapons. So, one night, when I was six, a really big, and I mean big group of bandits attacked the village."

She paused, to try to relax, and Naruto took her hand in his, to give her confidence. She sighed and continued:

"One of them killed my mother, my father and sisters in front of me. My sisters were covering me when he killed them, I have never forgotten his face, nor his wicked smile as he cut their throats. I was so shocked, it had been so terrible for me, a little girl of six. It scared me so much, that my once brown hair turned as white as snow and it remains like that until now. But... then something happened I´ll never forget, and that is that... that..." She was having big problems in saying it, and Naruto said:

"If you want to, don´t tell me."

"No, I should really get it off my chest, even if it hurts so much, but I have to say this, so that I can leave that burden... the point is... the fact is... that... that... he... he... he raped me. Don´t make me say that again, it´s so horrible to remember." Naruto´s mouth was hanging. Hikari now was really crying, but wiping off the tears of the terrible memory, struggled to continue.

"At the time I didn´t understand what had happened. But I still felt, well, filthy and... and it was disgusting. Yet, when I could move and saw all my family dead, I made myself a promise. I would never rest, until I found that man and killed him. After the burial of my family, in which everyone cried and I couldn´t, I left, to Kirigakure. I turned into a full shinobi, and spent 8 years of my life there, until I was sure I was strong enough to find him and kill him."

Sora was really surprised, but wanted to know more, so he nodded her to continue.

"I hated him, loathed him, he occupied my every thought. I was obsessed with revenge and when I thought I was ready, I went in search of that man, whose name I didn´t even know. It took me one year to find his band, one hour to learn who he was and two minutes to kill him. As I saw the light leaving his eyes, I felt relieved. I had my revenge, so now I could live happily, right? So, I went back to Kirigakure; I simply made my way to the Mizukage, and asked for permission to leave. It was granted, and I never came back. So, that´s how I ended up here, in this small and peaceful village of Masanori, after getting my revenge."

With that word, something stirred in Sora´s heart. Something, something that he once knew had to do with revenge, but what? What memory buried deep inside woke up with that word?

Suddendly, a sudden flash of black eyes appeared before Naruto, and he was surprised. Hikari looked at him and asked:

"Sora? Did you remember something?"

"I thought I did, but I just can´t. Just a pair of black eyes. I dunno what it means." Naruto answered. Hikari seemed to be a bit disappointed by this, but just a little. She knew that Naruto wanted to know who he was, where did he come from, but he just couldn´t remember. But then, looking at Hikari´s still wet eyes, he hugged her and said:

"I´m sorry... I wished I could change the past. But I´m here for you."

"Thanks. But, you know something? If that hadn´t happened, I would have never met you. So I´m glad, because you are my best friend."

"Uhm..."

They stayed like that a for a while, just comforting each other, sharing a moment of peace as real friends. But, it wouldn´t be long before it turned into something else.

* * *

All Naruto´s friends were full of sorrow. A month had passed and there were no news from the blond shinobi. The village was kind of silent, and all of them, felt that something really important was missing. The thing that sticked them together was gone, and they didn´t know where could he be.

After all, he was like a Sun in everyone that knew him. When the news reached Suna, the sand siblings were more than willing to help in the search, but they didn´t found anything at all.

Everyone missed everything about Naruto, his laughter, his energy, his way of making everyone smile, his warm smiles and funny grins. His strange adoration for ramen, even his pranks. He was everyone´s friend, and they knew that they could trust him any time and he would do the same.

And, he had helped everyone to reach their dreams, in one or another way, so they felt like they could never repay him.

Iruka was one of the most depressed, since Naruto was like his son, and if every time he went on a mission he would worry, now he was completely depressed. For Tsunade and Jiraiya, he was like their grandchild, one that they looked after all the time, and loved him; so they missed him terribly.

But, of course, the most affected one, was Sasuke. He wanted to see him, to hold him close and never let go again. Yet, he couldn´t find him, and he had no idea of where to look, he didn´t even know if the blond was alive or dead.

Everytime he went on a mission, he would search for him, ask any information, but there were no clues, no signs. He wondered, again and again, "where are you, my kitsune?

It was turning into an obsession, very much like the one Naruto had when Sasuke had left and he wanted to find him. Sasuke wouldn´t give up until he could find he blond man and to know if he was ok. And then, he would punch the daylights out of his teamate for leaving, but that would be after declaring his love to him. For now, he just needed to know that Naruto was safe and he could have him back.

* * *

The summer came, and with it, a wave of heat, and there was nothing that everyone in the village enjoyed the most than bathing in the river near the village and there was even a lake not far from the house where Naruto and Hikari lived in. All the windows in the house were open all the day and night, but it was still really hot, and the Sun burned.

It wasn´t long before Hikari got a pretty new skin color, that made her look beautiful, and the already sun-kissed skin from Naruto turned a bit darker, enhancing his blond hair and blue eyes.

The two of them had work to do, since the village kids would hurt themselves more often and the bugs would bite more people. Now, Naruto was the one to cure the men, while Hikari did the same with the women, so they got separated rooms for their patients.

As the summer advanced, they began to sleep outdoors, because inside the house was so hot that they just couldn´t sleep. There hadn´t been any rains, and if it hadn´t been because of the river that ran near, the villagers would have lost all their crops.

----------

One night, Sora couldn´t sleep because of the heat, and was turning and tossing in the floor, with a blanket beneath him. He stayed there for a while, until he was sweating completely and decided that he needed to take a bath in the river. It was full moon and no clouds, so it was really easy to see, even in the forest. He was just carrying other clothes to wear after bathing, he knew that he would dry soon enough just with the night´s heat.

He got to the lake, and after stripping, he jumped into the cool water, feeling a lot better immediately. He swam and relaxed, gazing to the stars and the moon. He decided to sit in a group of rocks, that hid him from the rest of the lake, in a small lagoon he and Hikari discovered not long ago. At his back, there was the rest of the lake, and if he just turned, he would see it; but if someone looked from the lake towards the hidden lagoon, they wouldn´t be able to see him.

As he rested there, with the cool water covering up to his navel, his mind went blank and forgot about his surroundings, just relaxing. He was about to fall asleep, when a sweet voice reached his ears. It was a really nice voice, and was singing a lullaby, softly. But, then, he heard something entering the water, and he slowly turned around.

Not far from him, a woman was giving him her back. He could tell it was a woman because of the shape of her body, of course, that was beautiful, but then, he noticed the hair color and his jaw fell. It was the purest kind of white, and it shined under the moonlight. Only Hikari had that hair color, but now he could see how long it was, almost reaching her hip. Usually, she had it all tied up, so he had never seen how long it was.

She hadn´t notice him, or at least it seemed like if she hadn´t, because she went under water and began to swim, in elegant movements, almost making no sound. Then, she sat, looking at the moon, and as she hummed to herself, she began to comb her wet hair, and revealing her back to him. Naruto couldn´t help but stare at the beautiful sight before him. She was really beautiful, and her voice sounded like if she had been a singer all her life. Just above her left shoulder, she had little flower tattoo, but it looked really nice against her skin. In her shoulders, the ANBU mark was placed. It was the most enhancing scene he had ever witnessed, and it seemed like an illusion.

After while, she decided she had had enough, and got up, walking towards the shore. As she walked towards it, the water revealed more and more skin, of course, and Sora had his sight fixed on her. She had soft, nicely curved hips, and long, slender legs. She got dressed and left, still singing happily to herself, ignorant of her accidental stalker.

When she was far enough, Naruto let out a sigh, and still couldn´t believe what he had seen just a moments ago. She was more beautiful than any of the other village girls, and her voice seemed to entrance him.Sora knew that he shouldn´t had watched her, but he couldn´t help it. He felt the desire growing in his heart and mind, to touch the soft skin, to run his hand through that hair. But somehow, he felt that it wasn´t just lust, but maybe something deeper. He tried to relax again and then went back to the house, to get some more sleep, just a few hours.

* * *

Sasuke was looking at the very same moon that illuminated Naruto, in the roof of his house. He hadn´t been able to sleep since he had a horrible nightmare about Naruto being killed. He had been really scared, and now, in the hot night, was trying to relax and to forget about the nightmare.

He didn´t want one in that moment, the next day he had a mission, so he needed some sleep. Suddenly, a shiver ran through his back, and he didn´t know what caused it, but somehow he knew that it was something he wouldn´t like at all. He shook the feeling off, and went back to sleep. The time would show him what was it.

* * *

The next day, Naruto couldn´t bring himself to look a Hikari without thinking about last night and blushing slightly, but he couldn´t stop looking at her either. Though now it seemed more like a dream, the simple yukata hidding all the curves in her body and her hair tied up.

But he was wondering, as he watched the woman read a book in the garden:

"_Is this just lust after her body? If it´s just that, it better stops right now. But then again, it isn´t just lust, if I want to hold her close to my heart, right? Is not just that I want to touch her skin, I need to. This is confusing, but... what should I do? Let me think... no, it isn´t just lust, I can tell. Is.. is... is love? Maybe.. no, maybe not. It is love. Oh, hell. Self-control, Sora, self-control."_

Yet, Hikari wasn´t making it any easier for him, since she was so hot, that she loosened her hair and opened her yukata just a little bit, to let her skin breath; though she was too focused in reading to notice the looks her friend was sending her way.

Naruto was still struggling against himself, thinking:

"_I want to touch her, but I shouldn´t. I want to know if that hair is as silky as it looks, I want to feel that skin against my own, but... but... nice skin... oh, shut up. Get a grip, Sora. You aren´t just some kind of horny teenager, you´re a man, for god´s sake."_

He was interrupted by the very object of his growing desire:

"Man, is too hot here. Do you wanna go swimming? I feel all sticky."

"Uhm? What did you say?" He answered.

"That if you want to go bathing. The heat is making me dizzy." Hikary answered, as she got up. Naruto said:

"Ehh? Well, sure. It feels like if rocks could melt."

"Yeah. Well, I´ll get my swimming suit." Hikari said.

Sora followed to the house, and changed into his swimming trunks, that were orange. He really liked that color, while Hikari´s favorite was lilac. Then, they met up and walked to the lake, where the village kids were also refreshing. They went to their secret lagoon and as soon as they were in the cool water and in the shadowed part, they felt a lot better. But it seemed like fate wasn´t on Naruto´s part that day, since Hikari liked to float in the water, letting her long and beautiful legs show; and that was driving him a bit mad. Naruto tried to think about something else, but he just couldn´t. He wanted to touch her, to kiss her.

But he got a grip of himself, and continued to enjoy the day, even if he knew that he would enjoy it a lot more if he could do what he wanted to do with the not so innocent Hikari.

He was scared of hurting her, after all, though she seemed like a strong woman, he knew that she had never been with a man in that way, save with the rapist, because she was still scared from the time the bandit raped her, and it was understandable.  
After all, anyone would need years and years of teraphy to stop being scared, and she had had none, so it was still possible she was still afraid.

But it wasn´t being easy to restrain himself, because she looked very tempting.

---------------

This went on for the rest of the day, so when the night came, Naruto was having a headache. Hikari didn´t seem to notice anything, until they were having dinner and asked:

"Sora-kun? Are you alright? You´ve been quiet all day, and you have a frown on your face. Is there something wrong?"

"No, I just got a headache. It´s ok, it will go in a while." Sora answered, and looked at his friend, whose face was showing concern and also, as she was bending a little, more chest skin than usual was showing. Naruto thought:

"_She isn´t making this any easier for me. Does she really doesn´t notice or she´s annoying me? Neh, she doesn´t know. She would never do that, she´s far too serious."_

Yet, in that moment, she went to the fridge and taking out two bowls of ice-cream, she gave one to him and took the other one for herself. Naruto asked:

"Where did you get this?"

"Kimiko and Shigeo sent it. It´s your favorite, chocolate." She answered, as she used her spoon to take a bit.

"Uhm... yummy." He said, before starting eating it.

He was enjoying himself a lot, he really liked chocolate ice-cream, and this one was delicious. Yet, when he opened one eye to look at his friend, his jaw dropped.

She was almost moaning, and had her eyes closed, enjoying her strawberry ice-cream the most. She licked the spoon in the most erotic way anyone could think of, but she didn´t seem to notice, she was too occupied eating the ice-cream.

Naruto was thinking:

"_Self-control, self-control. Damn, she´s looking way too hot there. If she goes on, I won´t be able to hold myself any longer."_

But, she didn´t stop, and continued enjoying the ice-cream, that was delicious in that hot weather. A drop stained her cheek, and Sora had enough. Letting desire taking over him, he got up, and licked her cheek, gently, as he placed his hands on his shoulders.

Hikari was about to take another delicious spoon, when suddenly she felt two hands taking her shoulders and something wet on her cheek. She looked at Sora with eyes wide open, and as he was enjoying himself, she managed to ask:

"What are you doing???!"

"You... were... teasing... me... all... day... I had... enough." He answered, between butterfly kisses that he placed all over her face.

Hikari was frozen in her place, with her mouth open in complete surprise, so Sora took the opportunity and kissed her deeply and passionately. As he rubbed his tongue against her own, she let out a slight moan, and began to respond to the kiss, caught in the moment. But, then, something made click in her head, and pushed Sora away, saying:

"Stop it. Stop it right now. What´s going on with you?"

"I want you."

"You just want me or it is something more?" Hikari asked, locking her eyes with Sora´s. Sora stopped for a moment, and answered:

"I need you, too."

"So not only lust... look, I can´t say I need you too. But I can´t say that I don´t need you either. I´m still not sure, so I can´t truly say I love you. Could you live with that?"

Sora stopped to think. Hikari did felt something for him besides friendship, but it wasn´t love either. And he wanted her to love him. There was a chance of that happening, so he would take it. He said, after some minutes that seemed ages for the both of them:

"I can. So, you want me?"

The only answer he got, was a kiss, and he quickly answered pulling her close.

* * *

When a year had passed since Naruto´s disappearance and not even Jiraiya had been able to find him, and that is saying a lot, since he was able to find almost anyone, several friends of him had begun to lost hope. They couldn´t find him, and if he hadn´t return by his own feet, it was most likely that he wouldn´t return ever. They didn´t classify him as a missing nin or an S-class criminal, since he wasn´t that. He had been pushed away by the villagers, so it wasn´t his fault.

Sasuke kept looking and looking for him, but it was like he had disappeared into thin air, and nobody had seen him. But he wouldn´t break his promise, and would find him, even if it was the last thing he ever did.  
Maiko, the young girl that had helped them, was seven now, and would enter the academy the next year.

* * *

**_Don´t kill me yet! Is just to complicate things, hehehe. Can I ask for 4 reviews? And, how do you think Sasuke would react if he found his dear kitsune with Hikari? That is, if he ever finds him. _**


	5. A dead´s last wish

It had been two years since Naruto and Hikari had been together, and now their relationship was deeper and the villagers expected them to marry anytime soon, but they weren´t in a hurry. Nothing really interesting had happened in those two years, besides that, but that was about to change.

So, in a hot summer day, in breakfast, Hikari asked:

"Are you ok, Sora-kun? You look a bit red."

"I´m fine. Is just it´s really hot. Too hot." Naruto answered. Hikari said:

"Yeah, it has been really hot. Well, we got somethings to do, like cleaning..."

But, she didn´t end her phrase, as suddenly one of the villagers came in to the house running and screaming:

"HELP! HELP!!!"

"Jun-san! What happened?" Naruto asked, getting up. The poor villager seemed to be really worried, and answered:

" Kimiko´s house is burning, and they are inside!!! Please, help them!!! Their little son is there too!!! We can´t get the water from the river quickly enough, you´re the only one that can use water jutsus, Hikari-san!"

The two shinobis got up and rushed to the town, where a rather large column of fire rised into the sky. The house was burning completely, and it wouldn´t be long before it collapsed, and the fire started burning the other houses. Hikari made some hand seals, and used the Suiton: Suijinheki Jutsu. (Water Style: Water Wall Jutsu), bringing the fire down quickly.

Meanwhile, Naruto summoned a pair of fire foxes _(A/N: I wonder to whom he must thank this summoning.)_, and told them to rescue the humans inside the house. Those foxes could go through a volcano and wouldn´t get burned, so they were really useful in this occasions.

The only problem, was that as they entered, the house collapsed, even when the fire was almost completely down. Everyone was surprised by this, and most of people ran away in fear, but obviously, as it was their work, both Hikari and Naruto stayed. She extinguished the fire, and the two foxes came out, one pulling two bodies and the last one carrying someone in it´s mouth.

The two people that were being pulled, were dead, and Hikari quickly recognized them as Kimiko, a young girl and Shigeo, her husband. They were friends of them, and this made them really sad, since Kimiko was a very nice woman, and Shigeo was a hard-working farmer. Kimiko was the only girl in the village with blond hair, though it wasn´t as bright as Sora´s, and Shigeo had green eyes, but a lot darker than Hikari´s ones, and more dull, though they were still beautiful people, and very nice to everyone in the town.

Their young son was the one that the other fox was carrying in his mouth, since he was just eight, and was called Ryuu. He had the hair of his mother and the eyes of his father, and was a shy boy, though he did like both Hikari and Sora, and wanted to become a ninja like them.

When Hikari checked him, as he had fainted, he had some burns in his legs and arms, and small wounds, but nothing that could threaten his life. She healed him, but she and Sora were worried, because the boy had no family to go to. And his parents had just died, so they had no idea about what the town would do with him.

Kenichi appeared rather quickly, and asked:

"Hikari-san? Sora-san? What happened? Are they ok? Are you ok? Is anyone injured?..."

"Kenichi-sama, calm down, please." Hikari answered. Kenichi was silent and Hikari said:

"We are ok, but I´m afraid that Kimiko and Shigeo couldn´t make it, when the house collapsed; as you can see. They are both dead, but there are no more injured."

"I see... this is terrible, but, what about Ryuu? Is the boy ok?" Kenichi asked, looking at the two bodies. Naruto answered, taking the boy in his arms:

"He´s fine, but what will happen to him? His parents are gone and he has no family. What is the village going to do?"

"This is rather difficult. The council and I have to discuss this. We shall reunite immediately. Meanwhile, could you two please look after him? He did seem to like you a lot." Kenichi said. Both Sora and Hikari nodded, and she asked:

"What should we do about the bodies?"

"The grave keepers will come for them. Don´t worry about it. I know you were friends... I´m sorry."

"So are we. We shall take Ryuu to our house, he used to go there, so he won´t feel in a strange place. Please tell us what the council decides immediately." Sora said, as the left towards their house. Kenichi nodded, and went in search of the council members, to have an emergency meeting.

Sora and Hikari took Ryuu to their home, and let him sleep, he would have a really hard day when he learned that his parents were dead, so both Sora and Hikari didn´t want to make him suffer, so they let him sleep, and went to do the cleaning. Sun was in charge of watching over the boy.

-------------------------------------------

Later that day, when he woke up, Ryuu looked at Sora and said:

"Sora-nichan? What happened?"

"Hi, Ryuu. How are you feeling?" Sora answered, and began to thought about how he could break the news to the little one. Yet, Ryuu made this easier for him, because he said:

"I´m fine, thanks. Mom and dad are dead, aren´t they? I saw the ceiling fall over them, and as they aren´t here... Am I wrong?"

"Ryuu, I´m so sorry to be the one to tell you this, but yes, they are dead. I´m, I´m really sorry." Naruto answered.

Ryuu began to cry, and Sora took him in his arms, to comfort the child. Hikari came into the room in that moment, but said nothing, as she understood that in this occassions, it was better not to talk. She hugged Ryuu too, and stroke his hair. After a little while, Ryuu stopped crying and wiped off his tears. He said:

"They were going to take me to Konoha, to become a shinobi. But now... I don´t know what will happen."

"We don´t know, either. The council is the one to decide what will happen to you. But, whatever is the decision, we are here for you, ok?" Hikari said, and Ryuu nodded. Sora asked:

"Are you hungry?"

"Yeah." Ryuu said, and gave them a half smile. Hikari smiled and taking his hand, said:

"Come on then."

As they ate, the boy, seeing their twined hands, said:

"Mom said that she hoped you to be married. Are you going to?"

"Well, I don´t really know. Maybe we will, maybe not." Hikari answered. Sora nodded and said:

"Actually, if you think about it, Ryuu, it´s like if we are married, just that we haven´t gone through the ceremony and that stuff. I mean, we have been living together since I came, and been a couple for almost 2 years."

"Oh. Well, I hoped you did, so I could have someone to play with. There aren´t many children in the village." Ryuu said. There was another silence, interrupted by a knock on the door. Hikari got up and said:

"I´ll get it."

She went to the door and came back with Kenichi by her side. The lord said:

"Ryuu! I´m glad to see you are ok, though I´m terribly sorry about your loss. I´m deeply sorry."

"Thank you, sir." Ryuu answered. Sora said:

"Kenichi-san, what did the council decided?"

"That´s why I came here, Sora-san. Well, all of us have been talking, and we knew that Kimiko-san and Shigeo-san were to take Ryuu to Konoha, so he could became a shinobi. We agreed to fulfill their last wish, but there´s a problem. None of the villagers could leave or take care of you, Ryuu. But we won´t leave you alone either. So, it was decided that as your parent´s closest friends were both Hikari-san and Sora-san, they would be the ones to go with you and take care of you." Kenichi explained. Ryuu´s face beamed with happiness, but asked:

"But, sir, what about the village?"

"I was going to ask that too." Hikari said. Kenichi smiled and said:

"Come on, my child. We have been living peacefully, and as you have taught some other villagers about healing and a bit of fighting, I´m sure we´ll manage without you. Don´t worry about it. Besides, we have to take good care of our children, don´t we? And it was your friends´ last wish, and a dead´s wish is sacred."

"Very well, Kenichi-san. If that´s what the village asks us to do, we´ll do that." Hikari said. Sora nodded and asked:

"When should we leave?"

"I believe that the classes at the academy will begin withing three weeks, so it would bee better to leave as soon as possible, so that you can find a house or apartment, and everything. The village will give you money, and I think that you´ll make a good job as shinobis, so you won´t have to worry. I´ll write a letter to the Hokage, she still owes me a bet, so she´ll accept you." Kenichi answered. The two shinobis and the boy nodded, and before leaving, Kenichi said:

"By the way, tomorrow you should come to the village, the people want to say good-bye to you, and the funeral is tomorrow, too."

"We will." Hikari said.

After he left, Sora said to Ryuu, with a big smile:

"Well, Ryuu, your dream will come true! Work hard!"

"Yes. I´m happy about that... but I´ll miss mom and dad." Ryuu said. Hikari smiled at him and said:

"We will, too; and everyone in the village. Come, I´ll show you your room."

"Thank you, Hikari-nechan." Ryuu said, as he got up.

Hikari took him to the room that first belonged to Naruto, but as the two of them slept together now, that room was perfect for the young boy. Ryuu fall asleep soon, and then Hikari went back to the kitchen, to wash the dishes and to think about what they should take and what they would leave in the house.

As she finished, she began to think that maybe in Konoha, Sora could find out who he was before she found him that morning about two years ago. But at the same time that she was kind of happy to think that he could find out his past, she was kind of scared of losing him. What if he had already a family? What if he had a lover? She pushed those thoughts away and said to herself:

"Don´t be such an idiot. If he has one, then I´ll step aside, and will take care of Ryuu alone. We´ll be just friends and that´s it. After all, Sora is the one that loves me, but deep inside, he´s not Sora. He´s another person, even when he has lost his memories. I won´t be the one to be in his way. I will not let my emotions get in the way."

In that moment, a voice interrupted:

"What are you ranting about?"

"Sora. Nothing, it doesn´t matter." Hikari answered, turning, only to find herself looking at deep blue eyes, that were full of both concern and a bit of lust. He asked:

"Really? Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I´m fine. Just thinking..." Hikari said with a smile. Sora asked, as he began to get closer and closer to her:

"What were you thinking about?"

"About the possibility of you finding out who you are in Konoha. Maybe you´ll find someone that knows you, and you´ll be able to remember your past."

"Maybe. But right now, I´m thinking about a more delicious thing." He said, as he licked his lips. Hikari´s face showed amusement and asked:

"Really? And that would be..."

"You." Sora ended for her, before kissing her passionately. As she returned the kiss, Hikari thought:

"_I better enjoy this, it can be the last time. Remember, don´t let emotions get in the way, Hikari."_

------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning when the three of them got to the village, the villagers were sad about saying good-bye to them. Everyone liked them and would miss them, as they were really nice people and they had helped them many times. Besides, they were good friends to everyone.

In the afternoon, the funeral of both Kimiko and Shigeo was held, and Ryuu cried one more time, and Sora and Hikari left him for a little while, so he could have his time alone.

The next day, they left. Konoha wasn´t far, so they would get there in the afternoon.

Yet, as they began to approach the village, Sora began to feel strange, and a sudden feeling of fear appeared inside of him. Something told him that this would be more painful that what he thought, and he didn´t wan to go there. He stopped, and Hikari asked:

"Is there something wrong?"

"I... I don´t feel like going there. It scares me." Sora answered.

"Have you remembered something? Maybe we should stop." Ryuu said, as he knew the story of Sora, and his lost memories. Sora said:

"Yeah, I think I need to rest."

Hikari just look at him carefully and then sat, without saying anything. Sora, in spite of his fear, sat next to her and then, sat her on his lap, crossing his arms around her torso, and resting his head over his shoulder, breathing her soft scent. It was calming, as he really liked her, and was comforting. Hikari simply rest her head on his shoulder and relaxed. She was used to be hugged by Sora, and she would never deny that she loved it. One of her hands rested over his hands and the other caressed his face, calming him, reassuring him. Ryuu simply looked away, a bit uncomfortable the sudden intimate moment. After all, he was still just a kid, and these kind of moments were really strange for him.

* * *

Sasuke was in his way home, thinking about a certain missing blond. Again, he had been out on a mission and he hadn´t found anything about Naruto. He had a complete mix of feelings:

Sadness for not finding him, depair for not seeing him, anger for not been strong or intelligent enough to find him, anger about Naruto not coming back by his own feet. Weren´t his friends important enough? Even if he never came back, at least he should have sent a message or something. Sasuke didn´t know if he wanted to cry, or to yell, or to run.

It was so confusing, but he had one hope. That when he found him, he would be able to hold him against his chest and be able to kiss him, the dobe liked it or not. Naruto had to be his and that was the end of the discussion.

When he was getting nearer his village, suddenly the feeling of a too well-known chakra startled him. He stop dead on his tracks, and put his hand over his chest, not believing his senses. That chakra, it could only belong to Naruto, and he was so near! Did it meant that the blond had come back?

He felt an extreme happiness, but he was so happy, that he missed feeling the other two chakras near his beloved. One of them was really powerful, but the other one was the one of a child. Still, he didn´t pay attention, and ran towards the place where the chakra was coming from, at one side of the path that lead to the village gates.

He jumped in front of them, and his eyes were wide open with the view, almost stopping his heart. He was seeing Naruto, that was for sure, but... who was the one he was hugging so dearly? It was a woman, and a beautiful one indeed, but that wasn´t meant to be. At their side, a young child was sitting, with blond hair and green eyes, and was the first one to notice him. He got up and said:

"Hello, sir."

With that, Naruto turned to see him, and so did the woman, showing her green eyes. They looked at him kind of surprised, and even more surprised when he simply said one word:

"Naruto..."

* * *

_**So, Sasuke has found Naruto, Hikari and Ryu. What will happen now? Will Naruto remember? Will Kyuubi let his memories come back? What has the fox been up to this two years? What will Naruto´s friends say when they find out? Can I ask another 4 reviews?**_


	6. Welcome

Something stirred in Sora´s heart as he heard the black haired man saying that name; but didn´t know what it meant. Did that man knew him? He asked:

"Excuse me, but... who are you?"

"What? You... you don´t remember me?" Sasuke said, feeling his heart break at that question. Naruto shock his head and said:

"I´m sorry... but I don´t know who you are."

Sasuke suddenly felt light headed, and everything went dark after that. He had fainted.

As soon as Hikari saw him falling towards the floor, got up and caught him before he got hurt. She looked at Sora and said:

"I guess your true name is Naruto, Sora. Can´t you remember anything with that?"

"Naruto... whirlpool... it sounds so familiar, but I don´t know if it´s my real name. Does this mean I´m a Konoha ninja?" Sora said. Hikari didn´t know, but said:

"I guess so. But, I think this man will be able to help us to figure out everything. But.. are you ready to find out about your past?"

Naruto was silent for a second. He did wanted to found out about his past... but he was scared too. What if his past was terrible or horrible? He didn´t want to found about bad things. He had been so happy those two years, full of happy moments, and good people. But if he did found out, maybe he would find out that he had been happy. Everything was so confusing. Yet, in the end, curiousity won and said:

"I want to know."

Hikari nodded and woke up Sasuke, who looked around him kind of surprised. Hikari said:

"Hi. Sorry, but... who are you?"

"Uchiha Sasuke. But... Naruto... what the hell happened to you?"

Sasuke was surprised at first, but right now, he was angry; and an angry Uchiha was something that most of people knew that it wasn´t something nice. He got up, and taking a surprised Naruto by the collar and pining him up a tree, asked, his Sharingan activated:

"Do you know how worried has everyone been?! Do you know how much we, I missed you??!!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL THIS TIME?! DID YOU FORGET ABOUT US?!"

Naruto looked at him dumbfounded, and looked straight into the spinning red eyes that looked at him with fury. Suddenly, the two of them found themselves in a strange place, a room with a giant cage sealed, and within it, the nine tails looked at them amused. Naruto asked:

"What is this place? Where are we?"

"You... you don´t know? You don´t even remember Kyuubi?" Sasuke asked, letting go of Naruto, bewildered. Naruto was about to answer, when the fox said:

"No, he doesn´t remember anything about you, Uchiha Sasuke, or Konoha, or any of his former friends."

"What do you mean, old fox? What did you do to him?!" Sasuke asked, rather angry. Kyubbi growled and shouted:

"I KEPT HIM FROM SUFFERING! DO YOU JUST KNOW HOW MUCH HE HAD TO GO THROUGH?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF THE PAIN HE SUFFERED?!!!"

Sasuke was silent this time, and the fox continued his ranting:

"You always said that he didn´t understand your pain, but it was you who didn´t understand! You were always thinking about how terrible it had been for you losing your family, but did you ever stop to consider that he felt even worse when he lost you?! Did you ever stop to consider how it felt to be beaten and hurt by the villagers, the people he swore to protect?! DID YOU?!! HAVE YOU EVER FELT THE PAIN OF BEEN HATED BY EVERYONE AND NOT KNOWING WHY?! HAVE YOU EVER FELT THAT YOUR DREAM IS JUST THAT, A DREAM THAT YOU CAN NOT REACH?!!! HAVE YOU, UCHIHA SASUKE?!!!! HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT HOW HE FELT WHEN THE ONE HE LOVED CALLED HIM NAMES, NEVER SEEMED TO CARE ABOUT HIM, AND LOOKED LIKE HE COULD NEVER LOVE HIM BACK?! I guess not, you haven´t thought about him! It was always just you, and you, and the only thing that mattered was yourself!"

Sasuke was shocked by the second time in less than half an hour, and continued to stare at the angered fox. After breathing, Kyuubi continued:

"You ask what I did to him? I only did what it was within my power to help him. He wanted to live a new life, without painful memories and hatred around him and I gave him the opportunity. I took his memories away and the rest was up to fate. Hikari found him, and I´m so happy she did. She´s caring, beautiful, devoted and understands Naruto, and she puts Naruto before herself, unlike you. And they are happy together."

Sasuke couldn´t believe what he was hearing, but then, the one that they had been talking about, said:

"Would you mind explaining this?"

"I shall give you your memories back, I guess, kit. There´s a lot for you to remember." Kyuubi answered his vessel.

Naruto felt dizzy, and felt like if some kind of wall had been broken. Suddenly, everything came back to him. The villagers, Iruka, the Third, the Academy, the exams, Team 7, Zabuza and Haku, the chuunin exams, Gaara, Kankuro, Temari, Orochimaru, the Third´s death, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kabuto, the four of the sound, Sasuke´s betrayal, the two years of training, coming back, Sai, Yamato, Akatsuki, Gaara´s death, Itachi and Kisame, Sasuke´s retrival, the jounin exams, entering the ANBU; and the fateful night in which he asked Kyuubi to keep all his memories locked up.

He felt himself shaking with all the memories, specially the ones that reminded him that he loved Sasuke. He didn´t had any problem with loving a man, the problem was that now Naruto and Sora were mixing. As Naruto, he had been one person, and as Sora he had been another one. Naruto loved Sasuke, but Sora loved Hikari too. They were so different, that he couldn´t compare them.

Suddenly, he and Sasuke were brought back to reality, as Hikari stood between them, breaking the eye contact. Both males were still shocked, and she said:

"Uchiha-san, I understand that you´re angry with him, but I can´t allow you to hurt him. Are you ok, Naruto?"

"Hikari... yeah, kind of." Naruto answered, looking at his current girlfriend. She stared at him for a second, and asked:

"So, who are you?"

"What do you mean?" Ryuu asked, not understanding the question. Hikari answered:

"You have remembered, haven´t you Naruto? Could you tell me about it?"

"There are many things to explain, Hikari,Sasuke." The blond answered. The three of them looked at him expectantly, and Naruto asked:

"Sasuke, do you think we could go to your house, unnoticed? I, I don´t think I can face the others right now."

Sasuke nodded, still trying to figure out everything the fox had said. They got up and he said:

"We can get to my manor by the training grounds, so we don´t have to pass through the gates. Come with me, I´ll show you."

They got up, and Naruto, deciding that for the moment his heart was with Hikari, took her hand and griped it firmly. She kissed his forehead and whispered:

"I´´m here... No matter what, I´ll always be here."

Sasuke felt jealousy as soon as he saw their hand entwined; but decided that the best was to put his emotions aside and wait for Naruto to explain everything. Hikari felt the jealousy coming from Sasuke, and guessed that he was in love with Naruto. As she had said before coming here, she thought to herself:

"_If Naruto loves him back, I´ll step aside. I will not be in the way, even if it hurts. But, only if he loves him back. As soon as he says so, I´ll accept it. All I want, is Naruto´s happiness."_

Naruto, seeing her eyes that reflected some sadness, thought:

"_Does she knows? I... I love her, but I love Sasuke too. And I can´t break her heart so easily, after everything that has happened between us. And, I don´t think Sasuke loves me, so I´ll stay with her, as long as I love her. I will not hurt her, as long as I can avoid that."_

Sasuke felt kind of betrayed, but was thinking about what Kyuubi had said:

"Hikari found him, and I´m so happy she did. She´s caring, beautiful, devoted and understands Naruto, and she puts Naruto before herself, unlike you. And they are happy together. _ That´s what Kyuubi said. Should I give up on Naruto? It´s true that I hurt him, but... I still love him. I just can´t leave it like that. But if he truly prefers Hikari over me... I shall not insist. It would be stupid, and it could break our friendship."_

Ryuu, was wondering about everything that had happened, and thought that it was really confusing. But he liked to see Hikari and Sora, better said, Naruto, together. They made a nice couple, and besides, he didn´t like the way Sasuke had treated Naruto. He should be happy of seeing him after such a long time, but no, the raven man had almost chocked Naruto. Ryuu didn´t like that at all.

When they came into the Uchiha grounds, Sasuke guided them silently to his house, and once there, everyone looked at Naruto, waiting for him to start his story. He sighed, and said:

"First of all, there´s something really important for you to know, Hikari. I´m the Kyuubi container. The demon that attacked this village, twenty two years ago, is sealed within me."

"That why you have whisker marks? I see. It´s ok, but, what I would really like to know, is... what made you forget about everything here?" Hikari answered, not showing any signs of disgust. Naruto was more surprised and said:

"You... you aren´t disgusted? Are you ok with that?"

"Why wouldn´t I be ok with that? I know you, and you are not a monster. Maybe you lost your memories, but I don´t think that your personality changed. You are gentle, and nice, and I love you for who you are, and you having a demon inside doesn´t change anything at all." Hikari answered, sincerely.

Even when knowing this surprised her, it didn´t change the way she saw Naruto. Naruto was Naruto for her and Kyuubi was someone else. Naruto didn´t know what to say. When he had told all his friends about it, they had been more surprised and shocked, but for Hikari it was ok. That made him really happy, nobody had told him that. Even Sasuke was surprised; because he half expected her to jump or to show a sign of disgust or something else, not to take it so calmly.

Naruto smiled happily, and acting without thinking, he hugged her and kissed her temple, saying:

"Thank you."

"Ehh... well, could we continue with the story?" Ryuu said, a bit ashamed again.

Sasuke thanked him silently, because he just couldn´t take that Naruto liked her so much. Naruto let go of Hikari and began to tell his story.

After several hours of explaining his life, it was already dark outside, and Sasuke said:

"So... you have been living there for two years?"

"Yeah, with Hikari, protecting the villagers, healing and that stuff." Naruto answered, looking at his friend and rival.

They had fun remembering all the good times they spent together, and Hikari was really happy to know Sasuke, and to see that even when he did was a bit of a bastard with Naruto, he cared for him. At least she was certain that he would be nice with Naruto.

Sasuke was really relieved to know that Ryuu wasn´t their son, and that they weren´t married, maybe it meant that he did have a chance.

Ryuu was amazed with all the stories that they told, and more than ever, he wanted to be a ninja. Now he did like Sasuke.

Sasuke, spoke again:

"Everyone will be so surprised to hear you´re back, and everyone will be happy. Tsunade will be really happy to have you back, everyone will be relieved."

"Yeah, I guess so!" Naruto answered, with a grin. Hikari said:

"I bet everyone will be glad to have you back, Naruto. I think that most of people missed you."

"Hehe, they can´t live without me! Oi, teme, can we stay here for the night?" Naruto asked. Sasuke smirked and said:

"Sure, dobe. There are many rooms to spare."

"Don´t call me that, teme! Thank you, anyway."

"Usuratonkachi." Sasuke said, just to annoy him.

Naruto glared at him, and Hikari and Ryuu laughed. Naruto ended up laughing too, and after thanking Sasuke again, they went to sleep. Yet, even when they looked so relaxed, the three adults were clearly worried, a bit sad, and confused.

------------------------------

Neither of them could really sleep that night, each one thinking about almost the same thing. Hikari was being held by Naruto, but both of them were awake, though they didn´t say anything. Hkari was thinking:

"_Even when it hurts, I just want Naruto to be happy, so I hope he´s not staying with who he doesn´t want. If I notice that he loves Sasuke, I´ll... I´ll help him to be with Sasuke, even if it´s the last thing I do."_

Naruto, as he hugged Hikari, was thinking:

"_If only I could clear up my feelings... I love them both, and I just can´t decide between them, what should I do? I´m sure of Hikari´s love towards me, but what about Sasuke? Kyuubi... can I ask you for advice?"_

"_What do you need, kit?"_ The fox answered immediately.

"_I... I just don´t know what to do; about Hikari and Sasuke, I mean."_

"_I guess, that the only thing I could tell you, is that you have to be with the one that you love the most, and that loves you back. But, to tell the truth, I believe Sasuke loves you, and I believe Hikari knows this. That´s why she didn´t kiss you or hugged you back, this afternoon. I think Hikari wants you to have the chance to decide, and wants you to be free to decide."_ Kyuubi said.

"_You think so? But... I don´t want to leave her either. She´s really... really precious for me. To tell the truth, before all this happened, I... I thought that I would like to marry her, but I can´t do so if I can´t love her completely, don´t you think?"_ Naruto answered.

"_That´s right. But... you have to decide who you love the most. You don´t have to do it immediately, but the sooner, the better."_

"_Yeah, I guess so. Thank you, Kyuu."_

"_No problem, kit."_

Naruto kept thinking for a while.

Sasuke, meanwhile, in his bed, was gazing at the moon, and thinking about Naruto.

"_Could I live being just his friend? I have done that all the time that I´ve known him, but I don´t think I could do it anymore. But, I kind of like Hikari too, and I know that she would always take care of him, and never leave him. I want and need him by my side, but if he doesn´t love me, what´s the point? I´ll just wait for him, to see if I have a chance or not."_

Those were the thoughts of the people that were in the Uchiha manor that day.

* * *

The next day, Naruto, Sasuke, Hikari and Ryuu went to the Hokage´s office, to face all Naruto´s friends, and to answer many questions. Yet, as soon as they went out and stepped into the streets, all the villagers recognized Naruto. All of them were surprised, they thought they would never see the loud blond again. And, the first ones they meet, was Hinata and Neji. They saw them and Neji could only muster: 

"Na..Na..NARUTO??! YOU CAME BACK???"

"Naruto-kun. Where have you been?" Hinata asked, bewildered.

Naruto wasn´t able to say anything because a sudden flash of pink hair appeared and threw him to the floor, hugging him and saying:

"Naruto! Where have you been all these years?"

"Sakura-chan! I´m happy to see you too." Naruto said.

It wasn´t long before all his friends were around him and asked millions of questions. Iruka hugged him so much that he almost chocked, Akamaru jumped and threw him to the floor again, Lee began his ranting about how youthful it was to see him again, everyone was incredibly happy to have their friend back. Even Shikamaru, hugged him and almost shouted:

"How troublesome you are! We missed you."

Temari, Kankuro and Gaara there too, because of the coming wedding between Shikamaru and Temari and even the stoick redhead showed his surprise and content in seeing his old friend again, but Hikari caught his eye too. He had never seen someone with such eyes and hair, so it was natural that he was curious about her and the child that was by her side, that had green eyes and blond hair. So, when they finally could go to the Hokage´s office, and Tsunade hugged Naruto as well, they began to explain what had happened.

-----------------------

Everyone was surprised to hear this, and a bit ashamed that they didn´t do anything to help Naruto when they could. But they were really happy to have Naruto back, and they accepted Hikari and Ryuu immediately, as one of their friends. After all, she had taken care of the blond, and she was his girlfriend right now, so they liked her. Hikari liked them all as well, thinking that they were really nice people nad that they cared for Naruto, so she was happy with that. Ryuu, was accepted in the academy, and the casuality was that he was in the same group with Maiko, the young girl that helped them to discover who had hurt Naruto. They became friends rather quickly.

A week passed by, and the three of them found a house and all they needed to live in Konoha again. Tsunade, after reading the letter from Kenichi, accepted them as ANBU again, and so they began to work as ninja again. Hikari, of course, was a hunting nin.

But, Naruto still couldn´t clear his feelings towards Sasuke and Hikari, and that was killing the three of them. Hikari never pushed him or brought the topic up, but she knew that Naruto loved Sasuke, she could see it in his eyes, so she was slowly trying to step aside. But Naruto, at the same time, didn´t want to let her go. Sasuke was heartbroken everytime he saw them together, so he tried to step aside too. But, he wanted to be able to tell Naruto that he loved him, and to hold him in his arms. And everyday the wanting of telling him this, was growing stronger.

Naruto didn´t know what to do, until one day, something happened.

* * *

**_So, did you liked this chapter? What do you think that will happen? Can I ask for another 5 reviews? Oh, and I think that the next one will be the last chapter._**


	7. A bit of helping

One day, Naruto was laying in his bed, thinking about how to solve his emotional problem, when he heard Hikari entering the room. She said:

"Hi."

"Hi, love. What did baa-chan tell you?" Naruto asked, asked, as she sat next to him. Hikari said:

"Nothing much. I´ve got a new mission, so I´m leaving today. I´ll back tomorrow, I think."

"Ahh... I see. Well, I´ll take care of Ryuu, don´t worry." Naruto said, smiling. Hikari nodded, and getting up, said:

"Oh, and... there´s something we must talk about, when I return." Naruto gulped, and nodded.

She got her things ready and went out, after waving good-bye. Naruto stood there just a second, and then followed her. She was about to leave when he took her hand and when she turned to see him a bit surprised, he said:

"Take care."

"Sure." Hikari said, nodding.

Naruto kissed her softly in the cheek and then let go. She smiled and then, disappeared. Naruto sighed, leaning against the door, and thinking about the woman that had just left. Kyuubi woke up and said:

"_Poor child. You shouldn´t do that."_

"_Why?"_ Naruto asked, cofused.

"_Because she´s in love with you, baka. And even if when she feels like that, she´s trying really hard not to get in the way and let you be with Sasuke. She´s really hurt, because you won´t let her go."_

"_I never wanted this to happen. She´s really precious to me, and I don´t want to hurt her. But... I just happen to love Sasuke, and I don´t know who should I choose."_

"_Kit... maybe you just have to search within your heart who you treasure the most."_

Naruto didn´t answer, but decided to head out and search the only friend he thought he could trust this, Gaara.

It wasn´t hard to find the redhead, as he was in the Hokage´s Mountain, gazing over the village. Naruto sat next to him, and Gaara asked:

"What´s bothering you?"

"Eh?" Naruto asked, surprised. Gaara answered:

"I can tell, something is bothering you, and I think it has to do with your girlfriend."

"Well... yes. It´s just I´m really confused, Gaara. Look, I love her, and everything, and she´s really gentle and nice with me, and she´s the best girlfriend that anyone could ever have."

"But?" Gaara asked, watching his friends features. Naruto sighed once more and said:

"But I love Sasuke too. And I have loved him since we were teammates, and I think Hikari knows this and it´s trying to step aside, so I can be with him, but I don´t want to hurt her, but I want to be with Sasuke too, and at the same time with Hikari, and I just don´t know what to do."

"Well, only you know who you love the most, Naruto. But be careful, nobody should get hurt. And, if what worries you about Hikari is that she doesn´t find someone else, I´m pretty sure she will. After all, she´s really nice and beautiful." Gaara said, and slight blush, almost imperceptible, appeared in his cheeks. Naruto sighed and said:

"Yeah, you´re right... She´s really... wait. Don´t tell me you like her. Oh, whoa, you do like her! Oh, shit. And now, I´m just in the way, between you and her! Can things get any better?" Naruto said, covering his face with his hands. Gaara chuckled sadly _(A/N: Believe me, you can do that, I´ve done it)_ and said:

"Hey, it´s not like I have a grudge against you or anything. Even if you didn´t love Sasuke, I know I don´t have a chance with her."

"Eh? Why?"

"She´s too nice for someone like me, too good for... for Shukaku´s blood stained Jinchūriki. Well, see you later." Gaara said, sad, but disappeared before Naruto could say anything against the last comment.

Naruto shook his head, and decided that the best was just to go down and to pick up Ryuu from school. The rest of the day was really relaxed, and Naruto didn´t had to worry about anything. Ryuu was really happy of going to the Academy, and Naruto had fun with him, since kids could always cheer his or anyone´s day.

----------------------------------------------------------

The next day, after leaving Ryuu at the academy, with all his new friends, and learning that Ryuu was invited to stay over Maiko´s house, because there was a party; Naruto decided to pay a visit to Sasuke, since he hadn´t seen him of lately. He got to the Uchiha compound and after entering the principal house, he called:

"Sasuke! Oie, TEME!"

"Dobe. What do you want?" Sasuke asked, as he came downstairs. Naruto answered:

"Don´t call me that, teme! Anyway, do you wanna come out and have lunch or something? You´re always inside here, it´s really creepy."

"Hn."

"Hn. Hn. Is that all your vocabulary, teme?" Naruto asked, as they made their way out, and Sasuke glared at him, saying:

"I don´t waste my time saying unnecessary thing, unlike you, usuratonkachi."

"Duck ass." Naruto simply said, and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Even when they spoke like that all the time, they could tell that the other was rather happy of hanging out with the other. They went to eat something, and then to train. It was getting late, but they didn´t notice, and suddenly, thanks to Naruto, they tripped over, ending in a rather compromising position, Sasuke on top of Naruto. Naruto rubbed his head, because of the pain, and Sasuke just stared at him. Naruto opened his eyes, and they stayed there, frozen, their noses almost touching. Without thinking, Sasuke closed the gap between them, and kissed his best friend, who was simply shocked.

But it takes two to dance tango, and suddenly, something knocked the raven haired ninja, causing him to jump. Naruto kept staring at him, with eyes wide open, and Sasuke said:

"I´m... I´m sorry. I´ll just go."

He disappeared, and Naruto just stayed there, trying to understand what just happened, but a familiar voice said:

"Are you just going to stay there or go after him, and tell him you love him? I fear he´ll leave again, if you don´t do something."

Naruto jumped to face the person there, and found himself looking into beautiful green eyes and hair like snow. He covered his mouth, and Hikari looked at him gently. Naruto said:

"Hikari... I... I..."

"Shh. You don´t have to explain anything, Naruto. Just go after him, and be happy."

"But... but... but what about you? I don´t want you to be hurt and lonely again."

"Geez, Naruto! Stop thinking about others and just do what you need. I´ll be fine, I´m sure. I´ve been through worse things, and, well, it doesn´t matter what happens to me, you´re the one that has to be happy! So, go now, and get him! He´s the one for you, and you are the one for him, I´m sure, so go now!" Hikari answered, pushing him towards the way Sasuke had gone. Naruto stopped, hugged her and said:

"Thank you again, for everything. Let´s be friends, ok?"

"Count on that! Now, go!" Hikari said, smiling, and then Naruto, ran towards the Uchiha grounds.

Hikari smiled, and whispered to herself:

"Be happy, Naruto."

---------------------------------------------

Naruto ran as fast as possible towards the Uchiha compound, making a mental note of talking to the sand Kazekage and make sure he was happy with Hikari. But right now, there was something a lot more important. When he entered the house, he heard someone moving upstairs and ranting about something. He went up quickly, and through the door, he heard Sasuke´s voice:

"... idiot, I had to kiss him right? I´m such an asshole, really, I mean, for god´s sake, he´s with Hikari! And I had to go and kiss him, and ruin everything. He must hate me now. Idiot."

He entered the room, and saw Sasuke sitting on his bed, his hands over his face. Naruto said:

"Hey, Sasuke. Are you finally admitting you´re a teme?"

"Naruto! What... what are you doing here? I mean, I´m sorry for what I did before, I know that..."

"Teme, shut up. I heard you the first time, and you don´t have to apologize."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked, confused.

"Well, I.. I love you. So, yeah, I wouldn´t mind you kissing me." Naruto said, smiling.

"But... what about Hikari?" Sasuke asked. Even when he was jealous of her, he did liked her as a person, and didn´t want to hurt her or anything. Naruto sat next to him and explained:

"Hikari knows what you and I feel for each other. And, in fact, she´s the one that made me understand that I wanted to be with you. She pushed me, and I know that she just wants us to be happy. She´s a real friend, and doesn´t holds a grudge against anyone. You should thank her."

"Oh... I... I see. I do like her, as a person, actually, so yeah, I´ll thank her. But right now..." Sasuke said, before kissing Naruto, and this time, the blond answered eagerly.

Naruto now knew that Hikari was right, Sasuke was was the one for him, and he was forever bounded to the avenger.

---------------------------------------------

Hikari, after sending Naruto to the Uchiha compound, and feeling relieved and happy, though a bit lonely after doing that, decided to watch the stars and relax. It was a calm night, with the crickets and the nocturne sounds around her. She was glad Ryuu had found a friend, and right now he was staying over with her, Maiko. As she gazed at the moon and star, she said to herself:

"Lonely again, Hikari. It isn´t as bad as it sounds. I guess that... life keeps going on. I think there´s someone else for me, I´ll just wait."

There was silence for a few minutes, until someone approached her and said:

"Beautiful night, isn´t it?"

"Kazekage-sama! Oh, yes, it is beautiful." Hikari said, almost jumping out of her skin, as the redhead sat next to her, his gourd still on his back. He asked:

"May I ask, where´s Naruto?"

"Oh, I guess that enjoying this night with Sasuke, happily."

"What?!" Gaara asked, completely surprised. Hikari nodded and said:

"Yeah. I mean, they are meant to be together. In fact, I was the one that pushed Naruto to go with him. I´m happy for them."

"But... what about your feelings?" Gaara asked, showing a bit of concern in his usually neutral voice.

"Well, I´m a bit sad, as any other person would be, if you ask about that. But I´ll be ok, no worries. I´ve been through worse, so yeah. Falling in love with a demon host and then letting him go is not such a bad thing." Hikari said, smiling at him.

"You knew he was Kyuubi´s container?" Gaara asked, even more surprised.

"Yeah. Not that it changed the way I saw Naruto. Naruto is Naruto and Kyuubi is Kyuubi. I didn´t love him less because of that." Hikari said, calmly. Gaara, asked again:

"You don´t care, about the demons?"

"Nop. You are Shukaku´s container, aren´t you? Gaara of the desert. And you have a sad and dark past, don´t you? So what? I have one too. Past is past. What matters is the present."

"Uhm." After this talk, Gaara felt that maybe he did had a small chance. They stayed in silence for some time, until Hikari said:

"I should go now."

"Can´t you stay?" Gaara asked. Hikari thought for a moment and answered:

"I guess I could."

It was a really beautiful night.

------------------------------------------------------

Time passed, and with some help of Naruto, Sasuke and Temari, Gaara and Hikari ended up together. Hikari was Naruto and Sasuke´s best friend, and they lived rather happily. Ryuu and Maiko were the best of friends, and they became teamates when they became Gennins, and they continued to be friend for all their lives. Naruto became Hokage after Tsunade and the old hag prefered to be just the hospital director. Kakashi spent his days with a certain dolphin. Sakura and Lee married. Shikamaru was Temari´s husband. Hinata became Kiba´s girlfriend. And so, the lives went on.

**The End **

* * *

_**So, did you liked it? I hope I didn´t disappoint anyone! Review and tell me what you think, I would really appreciate it. Oh, and if you have any ideas that you could give me to write another story, I would like to hear them.  
**_


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